In 2021, Bavaria imported natural gas and oil for 5.6 billion from Russia – much more than all other federal states. How does the Free State intend to get away from it after the Ukraine invasion?
Munich – Since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict*, natural gas and oil imports from Russia have been increasingly questioned. It is all the more interesting that Bavaria of all countries is highly dependent on Russian natural gas and oil – much more dependent than all other federal states. In 2020, according to figures confirmed by the Bavarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, 36 percent of Bavaria’s natural gas and oil imports came from Russia – for a total of 2.84 billion euros – in 2021 the Russian share of imports accounted for the Catapult magazine made 5.6 billion. Of the total of 12.58 billion spent by Bavaria on natural gas and oil imports, i.e. around 45 percent.
All other federal states in Germany buy significantly less gas and oil from Russia. Brandenburg is in second place with 3.8 billion, followed by Hesse with 3 billion, Saxony-Anhalt with 2.6 billion and NRW with 1.8 billion. The magazine Katapult has recently researched these figures for 2021.
Consequences of the Ukraine war: Bavaria highly dependent on Russian natural gas
This means that Russia is particularly important for Bavaria as an energy supplier. A decline in other trade relations would be much easier for Bavaria to get over. Above all, it is Bavaria’s exports to Russia that are important.
In total, Germany exported goods worth 26.6 billion euros to Russia in 2021. According to infranken.de , Bavaria accounted for almost three billion. The most important export goods were goods from the machine, automotive and pharmaceutical industries. This is followed by the chemical industry (particularly plastics) and electrotechnical goods.
Apart from crude oil and natural gas, comparatively little is imported from Russia: the import value of Russian goods is around 0.6 billion euros.
Ukraine war and Russian gas imports to Bavaria: how does the Free State ever want to become independent?
So how to get rid of Russian gas? In the short term, the release of the national oil reserves by the federal government helps in the event of bottlenecks – but this is primarily intended to achieve price stabilization and also to cover unforeseen failures in oil and gas supplies. In the long term, the storage facilities will not change anything about Bavaria’s dependence on Russia. One problem is the infrastructure.
For example, liquid gas from Qatar and the USA: For this, Germany would first have to build the necessary terminals in its industrial ports. It doesn’t exist yet. If you start now, they would be ready by 2026 at the earliest, according to BR. Apart from the fact that the so-called LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) is environmentally controversial.
In particular, the so-called terminals in Germany that are necessary for the supply of Bavaria are planned, but their use can only be expected in a few years. According to initial estimates, 2026 was named as the earliest conceivable date. The mining method fracking, which is popular in the USA and in which the gas is drilled under enormous pressure, is banned in Germany. This leads to high emissions, explains Sascha Boden, officer for energy and climate protection at the German environmental aid, to GEO .
Alternative to Russian gas in Bavaria: Söder relies on nuclear power – Aiwanger distances itself
Next remain local coal, also very harmful to the climate. Markus Söder* is therefore in favor of extending the lifetime of the Bavarian nuclear power plants, at least for a “short-term” period, according to the Prime Minister at the cabinet meeting in Munich last Wednesday. In short, he specifies, in this case three to five years are for him. Söder is critical of the dangers of nuclear power. Nevertheless, for him it remains the best and cheapest way to “combine security and climate protection”.
Hubert Aiwanger announces that tests are already underway: specifically during the term of the Isar 2 nuclear power plant in Lower Bavaria, which is scheduled to expire in December 2022. However, Aiwanger personally distances himself from the idea and, when it comes to the question of coal or nuclear power, advocates going for coal. “We are experiencing a war on our doorstep, a nuclear power plant also offers the potential for blackmail,” he told the Augsburger Allgemeine .
In addition, renewable energies would have to be expanded more quickly. In particular, Aiwanger advocates the expansion of wind energy: “We must finally break through the knot in wind power, which means at least in the forests and in the priority and reserved areas that have already been designated, the 10H distance rule must be dropped and immediately included in the planning walk”. Aiwanger and Söder argued about this, perhaps the most important topic of the coming years, on the ZDF-heute show of all places.* *Merkur.de/bayern is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
